1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a radio signal selective-calling receiver which receives both individual calling message transmitted from other users (hereinafter, referred to simply as xe2x80x9cindividual calling informationxe2x80x9d) and information transmitted from a radio signal communication company (hereinafter, referred to simply as xe2x80x9ccommon informationxe2x80x9d), and has a memory to store individual calling information and common information therein, and more particularly to such a radio signal selective-calling receiver which shortens long received information by using pictorial symbols when detailed information is to be obtained from received information or information having been already stored in a memory, and which can provide detailed information about any one of words or items in received information.
2. Description of the Related Art
These times, a radio signal selective-calling receiver has been requested to transmit or receive message including pictorial symbols, Chinese characters, alphabet, Japanese kana, figures, symbols and the like. In addition, message tends to become long.
In contrast, a radio signal selective-calling receiver is requested to be fabricated in a smaller size and in a smaller weight. Accordingly, a display screen in which received message is to be displayed cannot avoid having a smaller area. As a result, when long message is to be displayed on a display screen, it is unavoidable that message cannot be entirely displayed in a display screen, that is, message is partially out of a display screen.
In order to solve this problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-66124 has suggested a radio signal selective-calling receiver which enlarges an area of a liquid crystal display (LCD) without altering control ability of LCD driver, when long message is to be displayed.
In the suggested radio signal selective-calling receiver, a display area is divided into a first area and a second area. In dependence on a volume of message included in a received radio signal, the first area is enlarged into the second area to thereby entirely display the message.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-317438 has suggested a radio signal selective-calling receiver including a colored LCD in order for a user to readily see pictorial information without enlarging an area of a display screen and reducing an area in which message is to be displayed. In the suggested radio signal selective-calling receiver, lines of letters are displayed in blue and pictorial information is displayed in red as a background in a display screen.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-501432, which was filed as the international patent application PCT/US94/06283 and published as WO95/02305, and which was based on the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/086,065, has suggested an interactive affirmative responsive pager comprised of a widely used information communication terminal such as a portable wireless communication terminal.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-500709, which was filed as the international patent application PCT/US93/06741 and published as WO94/06241, and which was based on the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/937,085, has suggested a wireless communication system in which information input by a user is encoded, and the thus encoded information is transmitted and received in the form of a wireless communication signal.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-504077, which was filed as the international patent application PCT/US95/00999 and published as WO95/21501, and which was based on the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/191,897, has suggested a radio signal selective-calling receiver which is used as a fax machine.
There have been developed various radio signal selective-calling receivers, as mentioned earlier. They are all requested to receive and display common information, as well as individual calling information, provided from a radio signal communication company. Herein, common information includes news, weather report, and results of sport games, for instance.
However, the number and kinds of information has been recently increased, and in addition, a greater and greater volume of data has been included in one information. As a result, such information cannot be entirely displayed in a display screen of a conventional radio signal selective-calling receiver, which causes a problem that it is quite difficult for a user to find and select requisite information.
In view of the above-mentioned problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide a radio signal selective-calling receiver which is capable of shortening information by using pictorial symbols, and widen an area in a display screen for displaying information, when only one information is displayed on a display screen among a plurality of information, and providing a detail of items included in received information.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method of displaying message in a radio signal selective-calling receiver, which method is capable of doing the same.
In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a radio signal selective-calling receiver including (a) a display screen on which information is to be displayed, (b) a first memory for storing therein the information in the form of letters, and (c) a controller which, when the information is contained in a received signal, stores the information in the first memory and displays the information on the display screen in the form of a combination of letters and pictures, and which, when the information is not contained in a received signal, reads the information out of the first memory, converts the information into a combination of letters and pictures which combination can be displayed in one line on the display screen, and displays the thus converted combination of letters and pictures on the display screen.
For instance, information is comprised of individual calling information and common information.
It is preferable that the radio signal selective-calling receiver further includes (d) a second memory in which calling numbers are stored therein, and (e) an annunciator which annunciates a user that there has been a call, in which case, the controller compares an address signal included in a received signal to the calling numbers, and drives the annunciator when the address signal is coincident with one of the calling numbers.
It is preferable that the radio signal selective-calling receiver further includes a waveform shaping circuit which shapes a waveform of a received signal, a waveform-shaped signal being received in the controller.
It is preferable that the first memory stores therein the individual calling information in the form of alphabets and foreign-language letters.
It is preferable that the first memory stores therein private information including at least a picture, a map, an address and a telephone number.
It is preferable that the radio signal selective-calling receiver further includes a third memory storing therein at least one display table in accordance with which received message is displayed in the display screen in the form of letters and/or pictures.
It is also preferable that the radio signal selective-calling receiver further includes a table indicator which indicates one display table to be used for displaying received message on the display screen.
For instance, the table indicator may be controlled by the controller.
It is preferable that the display table converts the information in the form of letters into information in the form of a combination of letters and pictures, and displays the thus converted information in one line on the display screen.
It is preferable that the display table displays a plurality of information on the display screen so that each information is displayed in a line.
It is preferable that information selected by a cursor among the plurality of information is displayed on the display screen.
It is preferable that the radio signal selective-calling receiver further includes a scroller which scrolls information on the display screen, in which case, it is preferable that the controller displays the thus scrolled information in the form of letters.
It is preferable that the controller displays a detail of any one of items included in information displayed on the display screen.
It is preferable that the controller reads the detail out of the first memory in association with a selected item, and displays the thus read-out detail on the display screen.
It is preferable that the controller, if selected information includes an item having detailed information, displays pictures in front of and/or at the rear of the item.
It is preferable that the controller displays the pictures or both the item and the pictures in an inverted color, when they are selected.
There is further provided a radio signal selective-calling receiver including (a) a display screen on which information is to be displayed, (b) a first memory for storing therein the information in the form of letters, (c) a controller which, when the information is contained in a received signal, stores the information in the first memory and displays the information on the display screen in the form of a combination of letters and pictures, and, when the information is not contained in a received signal, reads the information out of the first memory, converts the information into a combination of letters and pictures which combination can be displayed in one line on the display screen, and displays the thus converted combination of letters and pictures on the display screen, and which displays a detail of any one of items included in the information, and (d) a pass number comparator which compares a pass number input by a user to a predetermined pass number.
It is preferable that the controller displays a detail of any one of items included in the information only when the pass number input by a user is coincident with the predetermined pass number.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of displaying message in a radio signal selective-calling receiver, including the steps of (a) receiving a radio signal, (b) checking whether the thus received radio signal contains predetermined information, and (c) displaying the predetermined information in the form of a combination of letters and pictures, if the radio signal contains the predetermined information, and converting the predetermined information into a combination of letters and pictures which combination can be displayed in one line on the display screen, and displays the thus converted combination of letters and pictures on the display screen, if the radio signal does not contain the predetermined information.
It is preferable that the method further includes the steps of comparing an address signal included in a received signal to predetermined calling numbers, and annunciating a user that there is call, when the address signal is coincident with one of the calling numbers.
It is preferable that the method further includes the step of selecting a display table in accordance with which received message is displayed in the form of letters and/or pictures.
It is preferable that the step further includes the step of scrolling information and displaying the thus scrolled information in the form of letters.
It is preferable that the method further includes the step of displaying a detail of any one of items included in displayed information.
It is preferable that the method further includes the step of displaying pictures in front of and/or at the rear of the item.
It is preferable that the method further includes the steps of comparing a pass number input by a user to a predetermined pass number, and displaying a detail of any one of items included in displayed information only when the pass number input by a user is coincident with the predetermined pass number.
The advantages obtained by the aforementioned present invention will be described hereinbelow.
In the radio signal selective-calling receiver in accordance with the present invention, when the controller receives a radio signal, the controller compares an address of the thus received radio signal to calling numbers stored in the first memory. When the address is coincident with one of the calling numbers, and further when the received signal includes individual calling information and/or common information, the controller stores them in the first memory, and further displays them on the display screen in the form of a combination of letters and pictures.
When the received signal does not include individual calling information and/or common information, the controller reads individual calling information and/or common information out of the first memory. Then, the controller converts the thus read-out information into a combination of letters and pictures so that the combination can be displayed in one line on the display screen, and displays the thus converted combination of letters and pictures on the display screen.
In accordance with the present invention, it is possible to shorten information by using pictures or pictorial symbols, and widen an area in a display screen for displaying information.
In addition, the radio signal selective-calling receiver provides a detail of items included in information indicated by a received signal, and displays such a detail for a selected item on the display screen. Hence, a user can readily understand a summary of long information, and can know details of any items included in information.
The above and other objects and advantageous features of the present invention will be made apparent from the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the drawings.